The present disclosure relates to surgical tools and methods and, more particularly, to surgical tools and methods to facilitate spinal surgeries.
The spine can have many problems that require a surgeon to access locations around the vertebrae, including the intervertebral disc or disc space. For example, in some instances, a surgeon may need to implant a graft to facilitate fusing adjacent vertebral bodies, such as, for example, during a transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) procedure. To implant the graft, the surgeon needs access to the vertebral disc to remove all or part of the disc nucleus and, in some cases, the disc annulus (generically referred to as “disc material”). After removal of the disc material, the surgeon implants a graft to facilitate fusion between the superior and inferior disc. Alternatively, a surgeon may implant an artificial disc instead of fusing the vertebral bodies. Frequently, to provide adequate access, the surgeon removes a portion of the bone associated with the vertebral column, such as, for example, a portion of the lamina, facet, or the like. Other locations that may need to be accessed include the facet joints, lamina, spinous processes, transverse processes, and other locations adjacent the spine.
As can be appreciated, the surgical site is relatively small for the procedure. Furthermore, the spinal cord and other nerves are located relatively close to the surgical area. To safely perform spine surgery, a surgeon, for example, may take a significant portion of the surgical time locating the various nerves and orienting them in the surgical area and referencing anatomical landmarks.
Thus, it would be desirous to develop a surgical tool and method that facilitates spinal surgical procedures.